Hard Questions
by disneywriter222
Summary: The ever after story of Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert. It follows them all the way from the return to the castle to the birth of their children.


"Just wait up there" said the guard, still eyeing me down. He pointed his finger to the balcony that only a few would ever stand upon. It was the balcony of the royal family, and heading up the many steps to the top seemed like a once in a lifetime experience. Granted, I was walking next to the lost princess, who had my hand held in her own tightly.

"You ok Blondie?"

"Yeah, I guess, I mean…no, or yes," she tried to respond, but ended just with a sigh. I knew this was a lot going on for her. So much had changed in the past few days.

She had left her tower, met her first person other than her…Gothel, met pub thugs, a horse and the world outside her window. Her 70 feet of blonde hair was now replaced with about a foot of dark brunette hair, she had fallen in love with an ex-thief, but most of all, she had discovered the truth about the past. She discovered she was the lost princess.

I tried to let go of her hand, and to my luck, she let me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her in any way possible. But I knew it wasn't going to help much. "Hey, don't worry. It's all going to be alright."

We stopped at the top of the staircase and stood there for a moment. She pulled me into a great hug, one similar to the one she had pulled me into back in the tower. Instead of a kiss, she looked into my eyes.

"Wait, no kiss?" I asked her, teasing her. All I got back was a smoulder. Her expression softened though.

"What if they don't like me Eugene" she asked?

I had no idea how to respond to this. I had heard stories about what a "gentleman" should say in such a situation, but I wasn't really a "gentleman" and she surely wasn't a normal girl, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

"Blondie, they will love you, just as much as I do." There, that had to do the trick right?

Apparently not. She still wore the worried expression on her face, her eyes still locked on my own.

"You really love me Eugene" she asked? Geeze, this girl has some big questions, doesn't she?

"Yes Rapunzel, I do love you, and nothing's going to change that…ever." With this her face softened, and we moved a bit towards the balcony, walking at a slow pace.

"Eugene, do you know anything about my parents?"

Another hard question. "Well, I don't know too much, but when I was younger, the queen would sometimes come and read to us at the orphanage."

Suddenly, it occurred to me. The Queen, Rapunzel's mother, was the one that encouraged me to read to the younger children. Of course, as a kid, I didn't really know much about royalty, and I really had no idea who this lady that was reading to us was, but still.

"Eugene?" The voice of Rapunzel interrupted my thoughts.

"Oh yeah, sorry Blondie. Other than that, all I really know about them is a little about your birth, and about how the queen got very sick, and needed the magic of the golden flower to live." She looked interested.

"What magic flower?" Again, a realization. I never really told her about the magic flower. She had no idea about how her hair had become magical, or about how Gothel had tried to cut her hair. All she knew were the lies the Gothel had told her.

"Well Rapunzel, it's a bit of a long story." She took a step closer to me, and stuck her hand in mine. "There was a flower…"

"Wait," she said, "say it like your telling a Flynn Rider story. I looked at her, and for that moment, I couldn't believe she was standing there with me. I placed a kiss on her forehead before continuing.

"Ok then. It all starts with the sun. Once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens, and from that drop of sun grew a magic golden flower. It had the ability to heal the sick and injured." I looked down at the young girl, who had her focus completely on me.

"Centuries past, and a hop skip and a boat ride away there grew a kingdom, which was ruled by a beloved king and queen. And the queen was about to have a baby, but she got sick…really sick. She was running out of time, and that's when most people start to look for a miracle, or in this case, a magic golden flower. But an old witch hoarded the power for herself."

Rapunzel looked up out over the bay, knowing just who the witch was. I continued to finish the story.

"The kingdom found the flower, and used it to heal the queen. Soon a beautiful baby girl was born with beautiful golden hair. And I'll give you a hint, that girl was you," I took my finger and patter her nose. She responded with a laugh.

"Eugene, finish the story" she exclaimed!

"Alright, alright, fine. To celebrate her birth, the king and queen launched a floating lantern into the sky. And for that one moment, everything was perfect. And then that moment ended. Gothel came into the castle, and tried to cut some of the princesses hair for her own."

Rapunzel interrupted me, "and it turned brown, didn't it?"

I looked at her, "Yes Rapunzel, it did turn brown. And so Gothel stole the child for her own, and was gone. The kingdom searched and searched for the princess, but they could not find the princess, for deep within the forest, in a hidden tower, Gothel raised the child as her own. Gothel had found her new magic flower, but this time, she was determined to keep it hidden." I finished the story. Rapunzel knew the rest better than I did, since she was the one who had lived it.

"So my hair was magical because of the flower?" she asked, more interested in the story than ever, "And moth...I mean Gothel stole me from my parents to keep that power for herself like she had for hundreds of years?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Rapunzel became quiet again, looking out over the bay. I wrapped my arm around her again and rested my chin atop her head. I realized suddenly how tired I was. I had been up for hours, plus I had died, so I don't see how I couldn't be tired.

There was some more small talk between us, but for the most part we were silent. Below us, children played. Rapunzel noticed the red-headed sisters that had braided her hair the day before, along with the girl who had taught her little brother about the princess, or herself for that matter.

Maximus trotted past as well, Pascal sitting highly atop his saddle. The frog had decided to go with his new-found friend to the stables until later, so that way Rapunzel wouldn't freak her parents out with the fact that she had a … well, frog, on her shoulder.

Rapunzel wrapped her arm around my back and I kissed her forehead. This was all so new, so sudden, and what in the world was taking so long?

Of course, like clockwork, I heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from behind the doors. The King and Queen had arrived. I let Rapunzel go, but gave her hand one last squeeze before the doors opened. It probably wouldn't look to good if the lost princess returned hand in hand with the most wanted man in all of Corona.

We turned around to look at the now open doors, and in between stood the King and Queen. Both had surprised and relieved and stressed looks on their faces. I can't really describe what emotion it was.

The Queen stepped forward first, just at the same time as Rapunzel. They slowly walked toward each other, and all I could do was watched. The Queen reached out to her daughter and looked her in the eyes, knowing right away that her daughter had returned. She pulled her into a hug.

Next came the King, who walked up to the hug and looked down at his daughter. He joined the family that was once again complete. They sank down to the balcony floor, still tight in their embrace. I looked down at them thoughtfully. I really had brought her home.

The Queen reached her hand out toward me, which was a bit of a surprise to me. Figuring it was just a gesture of thanks, I took her hand in my own. Again, she surprised me, pulling me down into the embrace.

I wrapped my arms around Rapunzel again, but this time, I felt really like I belonged.

It felt like a long time, mostly spent with Rapunzel hugging her parents, before we finally walked inside the castle. I had pretty much expected that I would be immediately sent back to the prison for my final night of life, but instead the Queen motioned me inside.

Rapunzel walked with her father, arm in arm, and her mother took my own. Either she had no idea who I was or she was just really grateful for my part in returning her daughter. Suddenly, she pulled me aside.

It was a smaller room, what looked like a small library. Not quite a parlor either though. I wasn't really sure what to call it.

She looked me in the eyes. "You love my daughter, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, I do, very much. Your Majesty," I responded. Geeze, what was with this family and hard questions? The Queen stared back at me, at first much like Rapunzel had back in the tower, like when she was serious about something, but then her expression changed.

Her expression was…sort of like…relief. She took my arm again and led me back out into the hall. We walked for a while, silent, until we reached a set of large doors. I figured I knew what room this would be.

She let my arm go, and then told me to wait outside of that room before walking past the doors, the large pieces of oak shutting tightly behind her.

This room had to be none other than the king's office.


End file.
